Conclusions – Year One

We spent 9 years of our life in a small country town in North Queensland called ChartersTowers. These are my memories of the people and events that were a part of our life during that time.

The changes that occurred in the church were imperceptible at first. But at the end of our first year the future looked just that little bit brighter. Our church savings had gone so we worked out a plan at the current income to support me on a part time basis. I saw this as a positive sign. We now had a plan to support a sustainable pastoral ministry, rather than saving to afford a minister for three years or so and then have him leave. This required me to look for other work.

Support for my ministry came from a variety of sources. One of our member’s family began giving her an offering each week to support our work. They would never come themselves but they wanted to make sure we didn’t leave the Towers. The minister’s Fraternal pitched in to support for one day a week the work I was doing at the local High School.

April says that our first year in ChartersTowers was one of the best in our spiritual life. It was less demanding socially because there was no one in our age in the church for a start. It takes time to build relationships in a new community. Financially it was less stressful than our years in Cornerstone. It was the first year in our married life that we earned a proper wage. The year ahead looked exciting with the church’s outlook looking just that little bit brighter. I looked forward taking on new roles and the challenges they would bring.

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Joining spirit and action; soul and work; heart and calling

Today I am going to start …

Today I am going to start living
As only I can live,
I am going to walk in the bush
Listen lovingly to friends,
Take time to hear the birds sing
Love my wife
Be present for my children,
And, wonder at this precious gift
Of life and dreams and time,
Just today, is all I have,
Today I am going to live.